Next shares up 9% on day

Shares in Next surged as much as nine percent on Wednesday amid rumours that current trading was going well, investors and analysts said. The stock rose 33p or 6.5% - having hit 554- 1/2p - with 3.5 million shares changing hands by that time.

Next shares have underperformed the market by 26.8% and the sector by 18.5% in the last month, and are trading around 12-month lows. 'There are rumours floating about that trading is not going as badly at Next as it is elsewhere,' said one retail analyst at a major European fund manager.

Next's Finance Director David Keens said: 'I have not heard the rumour.'